CLARKSDALE – Barely touching the one-year milestone of the mayor holding office, the City of Clarksdale is facing a lawsuit by three former city employees who allege they were terminated because of racial discrimination.
Three former employees – Obert Douglas, Joseph Cobb Gibbs, and Curtis Boschert – allege that they were fired on July 10, 2017 because they were white.
Douglas served as the fire chief for six years. Gibbs served as the municipal judge for over 20 years. Boschert served as the city attorney for about 14 years.
According to the complaint, on the day that city officials made the decision to fire Douglas, Gibbs, and Boschert, Mayor Chuck Espy broke the tie that resulted in the firing of the three in a vote that split along racial lines. Commissioners Ed Seals and Willie Turner, Jr., voted “aye” whereas Ken Murphy and Timothy “Bo” Plunk voted “nay.”
The positions of attorney, municipal judge, and fire chief have been filled by African-Americans, in which the plaintiffs claim they are “more qualified” than and that the “…blacks were treated more favorably,” the complaint states.
The plaintiffs also alleged that the city did not grant them pre- or post-termination hearings, and there was no good cause shown to justify them losing their jobs.
The plaintiffs are asking for reinstatement to their positions and back pay, fringe benefits, salary increases, awards, bonuses, and income lost since their termination.
The mayor’s office and city officials declined to comment because of the ongoing litigation.
Close window X
Republish this article
Unless otherwise noted, you can republish most of
Mississippi Today’s stories for free under a
Creative Commons license.
For digital publications:
- Look for the "Republish This Story" button underneath each story. To republish online, simply click the button, copy the html code and paste into your Content Management System (CMS).
- Editorial cartoons and photo essays are not included under the Creative Commons license and therefore do not have the "Republish This Story" button option. To learn more about our cartoon syndication services, click here.
- You can’t edit our stories, except to reflect relative changes in time, location and editorial style.
- You can’t sell or syndicate our stories.
- Any web site our stories appear on must include a contact for your organization.
- If you share our stories on social media, please tag us in your posts using @MSTODAYnews on Facebook and @MSTODAYnews on Twitter.
For print publications:
- You have to credit Mississippi Today. We prefer “Author Name, Mississippi Today” in the byline. If you’re not able to add the byline, please include a line at the top of the story that reads: “This story was originally published by Mississippi Today” and include our website, mississippitoday.org.
- You can’t edit our stories, except to reflect relative changes in time, location and editorial style.
- You cannot republish our editorial cartoons, photographs, illustrations or graphics without specific permission (contact our managing editor Kayleigh Skinner for more information). To learn more about our cartoon syndication services, click here.
- Our stories may appear on pages with ads, but not ads specifically sold against our stories.
- You can’t sell or syndicate our stories.
- You can only publish select stories individually — not as a collection.
- Any web site our stories appear on must include a contact for your organization.
- If you share our stories on social media, please tag us in your posts using @MSTODAYnews on Facebook and @MSTODAYnews on Twitter.
If you have any other questions, contact Audience Development Director
Lauchlin Fields.
Fired Clarksdale workers file lawsuit alleging bias against white city employees
by Aallyah Wright, Mississippi Today
July 6, 2018
1